Minnesota Diversified Industries (MDI) is a nonprofit social enterprise that exists to serve people with disabilities by offering inclusive employment opportunities and services. MDI provides competitively priced plastic products, medical-product services, and a variety of assembly, production, and packaging services for the United States Postal Service and commercial customers. MDI employs people at one manufacturing and three assembly plants in Minnesota and currently has about 540 employees and contract labor.
Challenges
Prior to using the UKG Pro® solution, the company managed its human capital through five separate databases, including HR, payroll, timekeeping, and tracking employee disability data. As a result, new entries and changes required manual updates in five locations. This platform for HCM generated many paper-heavy processes as well as payroll inaccuracies.
As a nonprofit manufacturer, MDI participates in USPS government contracts that require detailed quarterly reporting. Because the company needed to pull information from five databases, three separate departments (IT, employment services, and human resources) worked together to generate reports. These teams spent a significant amount of time (200-plus hours) each quarter compiling required reports and reviewing them for accuracy.
Solutions
MDI selected Pro to more effectively manage its HCM. A significant amount of time was invested by MDI and the UKG launch team. This teamwork resulted in a successful first live payroll and open enrollment with Pro. "The payroll feed automatically posted in the general ledger, and we didn't have to correct one payroll error or correct general journal entries on that first payroll, " said Marvin Hannon, CFO at MDI. "We had no stops-and-starts or lingering issues going forward."
Hannon credited the experience of his UKG launch team with helping MDI create solutions for complex business requirements and a successful deployment.
"It was clear during the process that our launch team's methodical approach was due to their experience performing dozens of deployments," said Hannon. "Their expertise let us stay focused on running the business while they oversaw the progress on our launch calendar. I've been part of a lot of system integrations ― and associated challenges ― over the years, from accounting platforms to manufacturing ERP platforms. UKG offers a game-changing level of competence and peace of mind."
“UKG Pro provides operational visibility that is vital to the health of our business.”
Marvin Hannon
Chief Financial Officer
Results
"With Pro, we elevated our HCM from a payroll system to an HCM solution," said Hannon. "With robust reporting capabilities, and visibility into key employee data, we are able to provide leadership with critical employment data and help the leadership make informed decisions."
Hannon reports that MDI's most notable success with Pro has been the combination of the organization's five databases into one. The simplifying of business processes saved at least one full-time employee between the HR and payroll teams when the workforce scaled up and down due to contract work. Using Pro as the single source of data has also driven greater business value at MDI.
"Our merging of databases has enabled fast, accurate reporting ― an important tool in any organization," said Hannon. "For MDI in particular, Pro has reduced the processing time for our quarterly reporting from several hundred hours down to 20. IT, employment services, and human resources team members previously responsible for this reporting are now working on more strategic activities. In addition, employees now have easy access to information they need."
According to Hannon, instant, real-time reporting is also enabling finance, human resources, and operations staff to meet organizational HCM needs and provide solutions to solve business challenges and to act on key business metrics. "We have large government contracts that require a certain percentage of hours to be performed by individuals with disabilities," said Hannon. "Rather than struggling with the accuracy of the numbers themselves, we are able to make adjustments to ensure MDI maintains our contracts and satisfies customers' needs. Pro provides operational visibility that is vital to the health of our business."
